June 2015

Presidents Report June 2015IN THIS REPORT –MRAWA Committee appointmentsRAC Council positionNew websiteFacebookMotorcycle safety media campaign MRAWA COMMITTEE AAPPOINTMENTSAt our July Annual General Meeting we will once again be looking for our members to help out with the running of our organisation by nominating for one of the positions on the Committee. We have made good progress over the past couple of years in both the safety and social aspects of the MRA and to keep this work going forward we need your help. So please consider nominating for one of the positions that are advertised in the edge newsletter or on our website. RAC COUNCIL POSITIONI have decided to stand for a position on the RAC Council this year, as I believe I can contribute to that organisation and help work towards a better road safety outcome for all Western Australians. I do however need the RAC members in WA to consider voting in favour of me and filling out the voting form that will be in the next edition of the RAC magazine (Horizons) and give me the opportunity to work for all road users through the RAC. NEW WEBSITEOur new website is now up and running thanks to Peter Butler and his team at Smarter Websites who have done all the work on this free of charge (a huge commitment that we are very thankful for)  I for one think the new website looks great and is much easier to navigate around. We still have some videos and links to put up but that will happen very soon. One of the features of the new website is the ability to join on line through your credit or debit cards and the memberships will now start from the date you join and will no longer be from July to June, there is also a facility to automatically renew your membership on a yearly or three yearly basis, so we no longer have to worry that our membership has lapsed. Once again thank you Peter for a great job. FACEBOOKThe MRAWA Facebook page is getting quite a lot of likes and visits recently and is a great way of keeping in touch with rides, events and motorcycle issues. It is a great way of getting the MRA message out to other riders by sharing the MRA page with motorcycle riders on you own Facebook page. I did this recently and was happy to see the response and new likes and comments on our page and also a great way to increase our membership. MOTORCYCLE SAFETY MEDIA CAMPAIGNSome of you may have seen the motorcycle safety advertising on the TV and in the newspapers and social media run by the WA State Government through the Office of Road Safety One was to highlight the issue from the car driver’s perspective and three where from the rider’s perspective on road positioning and decision making. If you didn’t see them visit www.ors.wa.gov.au and look up motorcycle campaigns.  I have had some discussions with the Office of Road Safety and we have agreed to make some short motorcycle safety videos focusing on road positioning and riding to be seen, we hope to have these completed by the end of October for the start of our Motorcycle Safety Week. That’s about all from me for this issue, so ride carefully, ride well and ride often.Dave Wright